Last night we had a DIY Degustation Dinner for 8 guests – each couple was responsible for 2 courses and a cocktail.

I called my entree “The Sound of The Fat Duck” – I had 4 boxes of “cereal” (flavoured like a full English breakfast) left over from the Fat Duck in Bray – so each couple were given a Fat Duck carry bag (also left over from my previous Fat Duck visits) that had the cereal & 2 squeaky ducks! (The sound of the Fat Duck )
I made macadamia milk to serve with the cereal too.Inside each cereal box was a wooden puzzle that when completed was a little Fat Duck money box.
Thanks to my hubby’s trip to Kmart & my dry ice supplier – I created a Fat duck centrepiece with dry ice so when you poured the water in you had the drama of the cold smoke with the aromatherapy of wild orange to compliment the Heston meatfruit I made using Super Kitchen Machine (Thermomix) post recipe here.
I also made “quackers” duck shaped crackers (which had duck fat in them) to go with the chicken liver parfait (I had wanted to make it with duck livers but my butcher was waiting for their order still) Needeless to say my Thermomix’s have had a major workout the last few days!!
Each couple took home the other half of their meatfruit to enjoy at home. The chicken liver parfait has equal parts butter to chicken livers!! It was frozen into domes & once joined together dipped into the mandarin jelly!! Guess what I’m having for breakfast?

Heston’s Famous Meat Fruit Recipe

For my dessert dish I made the Peter Gilmore Recipe Snow Eggs but used my own flavours rhubarb from the garden with some fresh truffles in the ice cream.

I just love Pork Rillettes - they are so easy to make & so tasty, just perfect to pull out of the fridge when you have guests or get a snack attack!! It takes me back to the awesome food markets in Paris - YES!!

Ingredients

1 tbs salt flakes

1 tsp cracked black pepper

6 juniper berries

20 all spice berries

16 cloves garlic

120g brandy or apple cider

1 kg pork shoulder cut into 3 cm cubes

500g pork belly or bacon (rind removed) cut into cubes

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 tbs veggie stock paste

150g water

150g dry white wine

fresh thyme leaves optional

fresh bay leaves optional

butter or duck fat optional

Instructions

Place the salt, pepper, juniper berries and all spice berries into the TM bowl and mill for 20 secs speed 10.

Add the garlic and chop for 3 secs / speed 7.

Scrape out the mixture into a container and add the pork shoulder, pork belly or bacon and the brandy, cover and marinate over night in the fridge.

Place the marinated pork into the TM bowl, add mustard, water, wine, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 1.5hrs /100 degrees/ reverse, speed 1.5 with the simmering basket on top instead of the MC. If you need to shred the pork anymore you can go onto speed 4 reverse for 5 - 10 secs.

Allow to cool and place into sterilised jars.

If your pork wasn't fatty enough you may need to melt some butter or duck fat to cover the mixture.

Place into the fridge to cool completely and serve with cornichons and crusty bread or crackers.

Don’t tell me you have never heard of a “Truffle Off”?? Ok so I made it up, because my friend Rita & I both bought a 20g truffle at the same time & didn’t realise it so we decided to have a truffle off & cook as many different things as we could with our truffles. I will update my pics as I go through the delicious challenge. Bring it on!! YUM!! (If you need more truffle drooling see post from 2017 truffle season)

Leek, Potato and Truffle Soup recipe by Dani Valent

Truffle & cheese sourdough pizza

Barolo Braised Beef with Polenta Cremoso – Joseph Vargetto recipe from the Dani Valent site – I also used my truffled polenta for this recipe to lift it to the next level!!

I first met Nico Moretti when he did a Cooking Class in Hobart about 4 years ago, it was a wonderfully delicious & inspiring class. I was very excited to get my copies of his amazing cookbooks signed too 🙂 Nico runs a cooking school in Perth, which he started in 2002. Nico & his wife Belinda run Cuisine & Culture Tours around the world – they even have some in Tassie too. Nico was our guide at the Thermomix Emerald Class trip to Lake Como in Italy last year. And this May I’m joining their tour of Japan with my hubby & I’m so excited!! Thanks so much to Nico for answering my Famous ThermoFive questions 🙂 Check out some of Nico’s awesome recipes on the Thermomix Recipe community here. I love all of his recipes but my favourite that I have made the most is the Frozen Mojito!!

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?

When I got my first Thermomix in 2002 I didn’t do much baking, but the Thermomix opened up a whole new world of recipes that I would never have attempted without one such as Italian focaccia like my mother would make, to shortcrust pastry for sweet and savoury dishes, and to profiteroles. One of the first things I made with my Thermomix back then was a “Croquembouche” for my daughter. It was so easy to make choux pastry and creme patisserie with the TM that I have never looked back.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?

I’m most familiar with the recipes in our own “Delicious Journeys” and “Food for Friends” cookbooks, so they tend to get a work out at our place. We continually get friends asking us to bring along our Nico’s Butter Chicken or White Chocolate Pannacotta dishes from these cookbooks, if asked to bring something along for a gathering. When I’m away, Belinda always turns to the Prawn & Saffron Risotto recipe from “Delicious Journeys”.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?

I always tell my Thermomix clients to “cook for flavour, not for speed”. This is especially true for sautéing things like onions as a base for sauces like my Tomato Pasta Sauce, where you want to take the time to cook down the onions. I believe you can’t sauté an onion in 2-3 minutes, and always cook them for a minimum of 10, sometimes up to 15 minutes, to let those flavours develop. If you don’t cook them for that long, the raw taste of the onion and other base flavours will carry through to the end result.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?

We always have a batch of my Tomato Pasta Sauce (Ragu di Pomodoro), from our “Delicious Journeys” Cookbook in the freezer. We make a batch of it at least every 2-3 weeks and as it has already taken the time to cook down to become wonderfully rich and sweet, you can use it either straight as it is on your favourite pasta or pizza, or simply sauté up some chilli, chopped bacon or chorizo, or some sliced mushrooms then simmer the Tomato Pasta Sauce with it for a few minutes until heated through. Too easy!!

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

Having just come back from researching our “Discover Sri Lanka” Cuisine & Culture experience for next March, I am working on some new Sri Lankan recipes including a Sri Lankan Chicken Curry and a Godhamba Roti which is used to make one of my favourite Sri Lankan “short eats” called Kottu.

Thanks so much Nico!! You can see more Famous ThermoFive interviews here.

Welcome drinks with Nico Moretti on the first night of the Emerald Class Lake Como trip.